Did you ever get up in the morning and the first thing you wanted to do that day was to go to a whiskey tasting? Me neither. Two of the activities on the lineup for today were a whiskey tasting and a trip to orchid growing greenhouses. Both were within 5 minutes of one another but our driver David thought it more appropriate to get to the distillery for 09:30 as I suppose it was more convenient for him. Kavalan which is the only (not surprisingly) whiskey distillery in Taiwan has developed a world wide market for scotch whiskey. The company though is also a leader in beer brewing, coffee production as well as producing numerous other food product lines. The business is 100% privately owned so I hope the family is happy as they are apparently extremely wealthy. I dabbled in a few of the tastings but as I indicated earlier, whiskey at 09:30 is a little too early even for me, so I went to to the coffee shop and had a vanilla milkshake.
Trying to understand the Taiwanese culture is all part of the journey and a stop at The National Center for Traditional Arts was in order and proved to be extremely interesting. They have tried to create the old Chinese market feel along with both the architecture and traditional craft production. I am not a shopper by nature but I did enjoy the experience of going in the shops and viewing some of the traditional craft making methods. I also had a fun time with some of the girls doing the Taiwan shuffle. See the following video.
Our next stop was an orchid growing facility. Wonderful way to spend some
time and immerse oneself in the colour and reflect on a pure natural
creation of simplicity in it's complexity. Regrettably it was not an ideal time to be picking up souvenirs of orchids and no doubt the authorities would have something to say upon our return of importation of plants, so best to leave the beauties where they are.
Well it's back to Taipei for our two last days in Taiwan. One more day of organized travel touring and then one more day on our own.
Sayonara
Trying to understand the Taiwanese culture is all part of the journey and a stop at The National Center for Traditional Arts was in order and proved to be extremely interesting. They have tried to create the old Chinese market feel along with both the architecture and traditional craft production. I am not a shopper by nature but I did enjoy the experience of going in the shops and viewing some of the traditional craft making methods. I also had a fun time with some of the girls doing the Taiwan shuffle. See the following video.
Sayonara
Didn't know Taiwan was in your itinerary. Thought you were sticking to Japan only?
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which was that pond in Taiwan? If it was in Japan I'm sure there would be koi in that pond. No?
Definitely Taiwan Dez. Koi in all the ponds. Ugly looking things though they are colourful. Off to Japan on Saturday.
ReplyDeleteWhiskey tour at 0930 sounds like fun
ReplyDelete